Squawks & Headlines ✈ General ✈ Popular (This Week)

Seattle - More information is now available about the Boeing's NMA, New Mid-market Airplane. Journalist Jon Ostrower reports the planning around the aircraft and holds an image giving some idea how the future device will look like. (jonostrower.com) More...

There is no good reason why tragic mysteries such as Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, Air France Flight 447 and EgyptAir Flight 990 should occur. We have the technology now to prevent or immediately track down and learn the cause of such disasters. (www.aviationtoday.com) More...

Cologne - Lufthansa faces the crucial question of whether the inclusion of smaller jets with long range in its fleet makes sense. The Airbus A321LR, a special version of the A321neo for longer distances, is at the top of the list but still short in range for Lufthansa. (airlinerwatch.com) More...

Southwest Airlines is inching ever closer to launching Hawaii service. The carrier has already confirmed its intent to fly to the state, though the start date for the service remains up in the air. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly has said that could come this year, though he cautioned that the first flights might slip into 2019 as the airline awaits federal certification to operate its Boeing 737 planes on the long over-water routes to the state. (www.usatoday.com) More...

Renton - Boeing will conduct the first test flight of the Boeing 737 MAX 7 within a few days. In anticipation of the first flight of the smallest variant of the 737 MAX series, Boeing introduced a special look on board of the test aircraft with a video. (airlinerwatch.com) More...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CBS News) – United Airlines says it’s investigating after mistakenly flying a Kansas family’s dog to Japan. CBS affiliate KCTV reports that Kara Swindle and her two children flew from Oregon to Kansas City, Missouri, Tuesday on a United flight. They went to a cargo facility to pick up 10-year-old Irgo, a German shepherd, but were instead given a Great Dane. Swindle, of Wichita, Kansas, learned Irgo had been put on a flight to Japan, where the Great Dane was supposed to go. The… (losangeles.cbslocal.com) More...

Victorville - GE Aviation completed the first test flight of the GE9X, the engine that will power the future Boeing 777X. On March 13, The GE9X took off from Victorville, California under the wings of GE Aviation's test platform, a modified Boeing 747. (airlinerwatch.com) More...

Toulouse - The final assembly of the first A380 for the Japanese airline operator All Nippon Airways (ANA) will begin next month for delivery early in 2019, announced Airbus on March 19. (airlinerwatch.com) More...

Moscow - Aeroflot wants to become the first customer of the new civil supersonic aircraft that Russia is planning to develop. Forty years after Tupolev 144, the Russian state-owned company is thinking again of a supersonic aircraft. (airlinerwatch.com) More...

Lufthansa on March 17 re-positioned the first Airbus A380 (D-AIMB) from Frankfurt to the Munich hub. D-AIMB is the first of five A380s to be stationed at MUC. The airline made the announcement on social media. (worldairlinenews.com) More...

Auckland - Air New Zealand is known for its special flight safety videos that are shown before the flight. With an ever-changing theme, the airline manages to attract attention, usually in a positive way. But the latest video, which takes place on Antarctica, is not everyone's favorite. (airlinerwatch.com) More...

March 15 (Reuters) - An $8.5 billion expansion plan for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport got a lift on Thursday after the airport’s two major carriers, American and United, settled a dispute that had clouded the project. (www.reuters.com) More...

Five people were killed after a helicopter crashed into the East River off Manhattan on Sunday night, leaving only the pilot alive, the authorities said. The red helicopter was flying along a popular route for sightseers who want to view the Manhattan skyline. But witnesses said it was flying too fast and descending too quickly. From high-rise apartment buildings and parks along the river, they watched as the helicopter, losing altitude as if it were landing on solid ground, plunged into the… (www.nytimes.com) More...

KLM this week introduced its first Airbus A330-200 with a fully renewed cabin interior. In addition to a whole new design, all seats in World Business Class have been converted to full-flat models, with a brand-new inflight entertainment system. (worldairlinenews.com) More...

(CNN)Already under scrutiny about a dog dying in an overhead bin and another dog being accidentally sent to Japan, United Airlines on Friday acknowledged its third animal-related mistake in a week. A flight was diverted to Akron, Ohio, on Thursday after the airline realized a pet had been loaded onto the flight in error, airline spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin told CNN. Flight 3996 was carrying 33 passengers from Newark, New Jersey, to St. Louis, but the pet was due to fly from New Jersey to Akron.… (www.cnn.com) More...

We are finally getting our first detailed glimpse of Boeing's MQ-25 "Stingray" drone in its entirety, including a view of its very slender wings. At the same time new information on the aircraft's past has to light, as well as a clearer idea of what Boeing has in store for its bobsled-shaped unmanned tanker. (www.thedrive.com) More...

Katherine Yombik was on board Spirit Airlines Flight 801 waiting for departure from Detroit Metro Airport Tuesday morning when she heard someone yell out to call 911. A man had collapsed on the plane. (www.clickorlando.com) More...

A New York state appeals court ruled on Wednesday that Delta Air Lines Inc. is liable for only $50 to a New York woman whose 8-week-old Savannah kitten suffered a broken hip while being shipped by the carrier to LaGuardia Airport. (www.stltoday.com) More...

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker keeps telling investors that the U.S. airline industry has changed, that it is no longer a cyclical industry where carriers routinely over-expand in the good times, triggering pullbacks in results and share prices. (www.forbes.com) More...

The chief executive of JetBlue Airways is not ready to discuss interest in Boeing's proposed New Mid-market Airplane (NMA), saying instead that the Airbus A321LR would be the ideal aircraft for a potential transatlantic expansion. (www.flightglobal.com) More...

Rolls-Royce has partnered with the UK’s University of Nottingham and software developer Ansys to carry out a research initiative for the development of innovative technology for the next generation of cleaner and quieter aircraft engines. (www.aerospace-technology.com) More...

Braathens Regional Airlines is the first passenger airline in the world that makes it possible for all its travelers to select biofuel when booking tickets. "It's important for us to make it easy to go climate smart. And enabling biofuel for the flight is just one of our actions to make things smarter for our customers. Since 2017 we have offered biofuel possibility to businesses only, now it/s possible for everyone. This is an important step towards our goal of becoming fossil-free until… (www.traveldailynews.com) More...

From April 11, 2018 Aeroflot will resume regular flights from Moscow to Cairo. Flights will operate three times per week on Airbus A320 aircraft to and from Sheremetyevo Terminal F. Ticket sales will launch on 13 March 2018. (worldairlinenews.com) More...

Istanbul-based Turkish Airlines has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to acquire 25 A350-900 aircraft plus five options, underlining its strong confidence in the global market-dynamism and growth. (www.airbus.com) More...

Airbus SE’s deal to take a controlling stake in the Bombardier Inc. C Series jetliner program could be finalized by the time of the Farnborough Air Show this summer, according to people familiar with the matter. (www.bloomberg.com) More...

Both the FAA and the NTSB are likely ramping up an investigation into what caused an electrical fire on a Southwest flight from Phoenix to Dallas, forcing an emergency landing in Albuquerque. It was a very scary situation for passengers overnight after smoke filled the cabin of that plane and sending two to the hospital. (www.krqe.com) More...

It was somewhat appropriate for SIA to be the recipient of the landmark delivery, as the Asia-Pacific region has represented the single biggest market for Airbus in delivery terms since its inception. (www.flightglobal.com) More...

Startup long-haul, low-fare airline Air Belgium has received its operating certificate from Belgium’s Direction Générale Transport Aérien (DGTA), allowing it to start selling tickets for planned first revenue service with one of four Airbus A340-300s between Brussels and Hong Kong in mid-April. (www.ainonline.com) More...

Lufthansa posted a 70% improvement in adjusted full-year EBIT to reach €2.97 billion ($3.68 billion) for 2017 after revenues were lifted by its acquisition of Air Berlin as well as gains from new pilot labour deals.. (www.flightglobal.com) More...

A system-wide computer outage is leading to long lines at airports across Canada on Monday, as some flights are having to be checked in manually. Social media is full of reports of long lines at airports, including those in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary... (www.cbc.ca) More...

Passengers on board a Dallas-bound Southwest Airlines flight used escape slides to evacuate the plane after smoke filled the aircraft's cabin, prompting an emergency landing in New Mexico. The Albuquerque Fire Department tweeted that two people were taken to local hospitals. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known. (www.nbcdfw.com) More...

Extraordinary air traffic control communications with a US-Bangla Bombardier Q400 shortly before it crashed at Kathmandu reveal confusion over the runway to which the aircraft had been cleared. (www.flightglobal.com) More...

A passenger who complained about Norwegian on social media through the medium of poetry has had his extra fees waived by the budget airline. Gus Dolding was unimpressed by the airline’s €120 (£105) charge to change the name on his flight booking. He responded by writing a poem to Norwegian on Facebook: (www.independent.co.uk) More...

A Facebook user shares a description and video of what she witnessed today on Southwest Airlines flight 1683 from Chicago Midway to Atlanta. This incident caused a 46 minute delay on departure, though the flight only landed 26 minutes late. (onemileatatime.boardingarea.com) More...

With the U.S. ADS-B Out compliance deadline looming, “we’re about 18 months from a significant reckoning in the preowned business jet market due to obsolescence,” Mesinger Jet Sales president and CEO Jay Mesinger said this morning at the NBAA Business Aircraft Finance, Registration, and Legal Conference in Fort Myers, Florida. According to co-presenter JetNet iQ managing director Rolland Vincent, U.S. operators of 13,425 business jets—one-third of the in-service fleet—currently have no ADS-B… (www.ainonline.com) More...